Gathering: Halloween Gala

[concierge]

A large, decorative sign situated prominantly in the lobby reads:

The Nexus Hotel
proudly presents its
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN GALA

Formal Reception
Nexus Dining Hall
6 PM - Midnight

Monster Mixer
Nexus Basement
8 PM - 2 AM

Masquerade attire recommended for all guests

Most of the chairs have been removed from the Dining Hall to allow for ballroom-style dancing to the orchestra set up on the far end of the room. A polished cherry wood open bar is aligned along one wall. The adjacent Bistro is open for the duration of the formal reception, serving gourmet hors d'oeuvres.

Downstairs, the basement's largest storeroom has been converted into a spooky nightclub, complete with DJ, dance floor and cocktails.

Comments

[malachai]

Nick paused with the beer halfway to his mouth. "Wait. You went to Disney? Please, please, please tell me someone got pictures of this. Then again, maybe not. The mental images I've got going on are just as good."

[almightythor]

"Jane might have," Thor said, trying to recall if he actually had any of the photographs that were taken.

"They thought I was supposed to be there for their entertainment."

[malachai]

"How impertinent of them," Nick replied, affecting outrage on the god's behalf. "In their defense, they see many adults in the same way. And it could be worse, you could give them nightmares."

[almightythor]

"No, they all seem to like me. I like that about Midgard." Thor wasn't afraid to admit that fame, while a fickle thing, wasn't something he entirely hated. On the contrary, he enjoyed positive attention.

"So, what is your costume?"

[malachai]

"Not much of one, actually," Nick admitted, swiping a hand down his body. "This is how I normally dress when I'm on duty back home. The creatures I track and kill like to lurk in alleys. The more I can blend into the shadows, the better my chances of sending them back to hell."

[almightythor]

"Do you fear that will happen tonight?" He tightened his hand on Mjolnir just in case, wanting to be prepared for any threats that might come their way.

It would, of course, be comforting if he had on armor and not just a few scraps of cloth.

[malachai]

"No," Nick said, eyes tracking to the hammer at Thor's first motion towards it. "Not here. As far as I can tell no one's come through the doors dangerous enough for me to worry about the humans here. I keep my senses open for them, but so far nothing. I can only hope it stays that way."

[almightythor]

"Maybe there is nothing to be worried about at all. There was a door to a place that seemed...wrong, somehow, though. My brother and I went through it."

While he didn't trust Loki as far as he could throw him, Loki had yet to do anything out of line in the hotel and Thor felt he should allow him a bit of leeway for the time being. Still, he didn't like the feel of the empty, mist-filled place behind the door and he didn't like how comfortable Loki seemed with it.

[malachai]

Nick was immediately on alert. If he had one fear, it was that his mere presence here would somehow find a way to open a door to Azmodea. He didn't want to visit that place on anyone, even the crazy guy he'd met when he first came here. "Wrong how? What did it look like?"

[almightythor]

"Dark and full of mist," Thor explained, shivering a bit with the memory.

"An eerie place, by my reckoning."

[malachai]

"There's no easy way to ask this, but did the world feel...human? Was there a smell of sulfur, or the sounds of beings screaming filling the air around you?"

[almightythor]

"Not human but not that, either," Thor said, trying to describe it as best he could.

"I would say this place felt cold and empty."

[malachai]

Nick relaxed at once. Cold and empty wasn't the best thing ever, but it also wasn't Azmodea. "Okay, that's. Well, it's not what I feared it was. Just keep an eye out for something like I described? If my being here opens a veil to that place, that would be...bad."

[almightythor]

"Noted," Thor said, committing it to memory. He had been to some places that weren't entirely pleasant in his life but none of the exact description that Nick described.

"We are to keep that door sealed, I would imagine?"

[malachai]

"Bricked over would be better," Nick assured him. "It's a hell realm, and they aren't particularly fussy about humans who end up there being already dead first."